The Intruder's Hand
by RaichuTec
Summary: The eternal struggle between best friends, caught in the game and struggling to break free from it. Or are they?


Disclaimer: Utena characters and settings belong to their respective owners. I'm just borrowing the toys for a bit and I'll put them back when I'm done.

The Intruder's Hand

by

Raichutec

Locating Saionji wasn't difficult. Whenever he pouted, sulked, came down from a temper tantrum or otherwise found another reason to be pissed off at life in general, there was always one spot in all of Ohtori Touga was sure to find him in: The Dojo.

Sure enough, with the sun low in the skies and shadows lengthening across the campus, he found himself at the familiar entrance to the school's practice dojo. The door open, the ambient candles not yet lit, he lingered in the doorway, dark against the light from outside as he waited to be noticed by the green rose sitting in the middle of the scuffed wooden floor, bokken in his lap and hands clasped in front of him while he meditated quietly. For a moment, Touga wondered what thoughts filtered through his mind while he remained in such a state. But he hadn't long to ponder it, only a moment until the green head lifted.

"What do you want?"

Touga's lips quirked slightly to the right, a casual step forward crossing the threshold and invading his old friend's private space. Saionji always protested it in some for or another and even now, though he did not face Touga, his shoulders stiffed to hear that soft tap from a shoe planting down against the floor.

"Damn you, Touga. You know I want to be alone."

"Protest, protest. Is that any way to greet your best friend?" came the bemused reply, followed by another step forward. He felt something light and small against the edge of his boot, skittering away as he struck it accidentally. A small, glinting object spun away, chiming against the wood floor before plinking off the wall and settling.

A heavy sigh emitted past Saionji's lip, sounding weary, irritated and put upon all at the same time as he gave up on his meditative endeavors. The bokken set aside, he planted his hands against the floor to push himself up to his feet. "Friend? Please, Touga, don't try to play innocent with me. You can play your games with your precious little toys, but leave me out of-- what are you doing?"

Touga, placidly ignoring his old friend for the time being, had crossed over to the wall by this point, crouching down to retrieve the shiny object he had accidentally kicked on entering. A ring. The Rose Signet, to be specific, the very ring Akio had sent all of them once upon a time.

_With this ring, I thee wed..._

He closed his fingers over it and chuckled softly, shaking his head ruefully. "I've been looking for you."

"Ha, you never come looking for me unless you want something, so what is it this time?" He sniffed derisively, then, tossing that riot of green curls over his shoulder. He turned, finally, violet eyes narrowed on the closed fist kept at Touga's side. Realization dawned on him with all the alacrity of a blunt edged hammer at the back of his skull. "Give it back."

"What, this?" Touga's smile widened, predatory and calm. In control. He opened his fist, grasping the ring between thumb and forefinger as he tilted it right and left, watching how it caught the light of dusk over the carefully crafted rose insignia. "We are all still duelists, Saionji. You should not be removing this until the end."

"Shut up," the green rose growled. Predictable, that was how Touga once described him. Though he had done quite a bit of growing up in the last few months, the right buttons were still present and pressing them still caused the same volatile reaction. He stormed forward, an arm reaching out to grab at the ring held out as bait.

And the moment he closed the distance, Touga struck, grasping his old friend by the wrist and whirling both of them around in a brief dance, red and green twining together in a blur of motion. As it ended, he held Saionji fast against the wall, his arm twisted behind him at a painful angle. Teeth gritting, still, eyes squeezed shut, he struggled despite the fact that it was clearly a no win situation for him.

Touga chuckled softly, clucking his tongue, "Saionji, let's not make this difficult. Didn't you ask why I came?"

"F-fuck you," came the ever intelligent response.

"Later. Now... I don't want to fight with you about this, not anymore."

With the green rose's arm trapped behind him, Touga took the opportunity to fit the ring back in its place, sliding it on effortlessly even as he felt Saionji slump in surrender. He let go, then, taking a step back to avoid the stream of green curls cutting through the air as Saionji whirled back around to face him, cheeks crimson with his indignity and barely contained temper.

"You bastard, you didn't have to do _that_," he pouted, expression petulant as he rubbed at his sore shoulder.. But, he didn't remove the ring again, leaving it where Touga had set it. "And I don't think you came here to force me to wear the signet again. _What_ do you want?"

_Before these witnesses..._

"I need you."

"For what?"

Touga reached out to grab a sleeve, drawing Saionji in to they were nearly nose to nose. His voice lowered to a seductive purr, the sort of tone he knew always melted his victims and lured them further into his little games. "I need you for my duel with Utena."

Saionji's expression remained blank for a moment, filtering Touga's request through the sieves of his mind, indecision weighed heavily before he jerked his arm, slapping Touga's hand away and retaking his personal space with a good shove.. "So you can rescue Tenjou? Forget it. I'm tired of being a pawn. To you, to the Ends of the World, to everyone."

"You've said that before."

The reminder felt like a slap and Saionji turned away sharply. "I mean it this time. You had your fun. I lost to Utena again. I am not going to let you make a fool of me anymore."

Undaunted, Touga leaned in again, even as Saionji stiffened, chin lifted high and regal. Resting a hand against his friend's shoulder, he idly began to run his fingers through the thick green curls and brush them back from Saionji's face. "It's not like that. Things have changed, Saionji." His voice had changed. No longer honey sweet, instead they carried on it a sense of conviction, seriousness. "You know we're both pawns of Akio."

"The chairman of Ohtori, yes..." Saionji's guard slowly lowered again, head turning slightly to the side so that one violet eye rested on Touga's face. "You're admitting your place, too? Unbecoming of you, Touga."

_As a sign of my promise..._

Touga ignored the intended insult, twining the curls around his finger idly. He even smiled slightly. "You opened my eyes with that."

"I did?"

"Yes... and I was wrong to treat you as I have."

Now those violet eyes narrowed. "You're up to something."

Touga sighed, "Why must you always assume that?"

"Because you always are!"

"Not this time!" It was rare to see Kiryuu Touga lose his cool, but Saionji was certain that in that moment he witnessed a feral glint to the redhead's cool blue gaze. "Do you really want to leave Utena to that fate? Do you? Are you so jealous of her, so angry with her claiming of Anthy-- who you know now is nothing but a puppet -- that you would want her to be with the likes of _him_?"

"You're the jealous one, Touga. Jealous of him."

And as usual, Touga didn't react in the same violent manner Saionji would have if the comment had been instead directed toward him. He smiled, albeit ruefully, and leaned in as if he meant to whisper in his friend's ear, to share some kind of deep dark secret. Saionji turned, and found his mouth captured in a rough kiss. He hadn't even the sense to shove Touga away from him and instead found himself pushed down onto the cool wooden flooring, straddled and pinned there beneath the redhead's weight. How familiar was this? Since their days on the Student Council, their time together as duelists, the friendship had gone from childhood innocence, to the raging decadence of adolescence. But he could never recall such a fire in his loins, such a raw desire for Touga before the rose signets, before the letters began to arrive from the Ends of the World.

When at last Touga sat up, he left Saionji breathless, senses reeling. The two of them stared at one another in the silence that followed. Outside the sun had begun to set, melting the skies with its brilliance. Touga set a hand against his friend's cheek, gently letting his thumb roam over the flawless flesh there. "Saionji, please. I need you. Please."

If this was a game, another of Touga's manipulative faces, Saionji couldn't tell. It had been years since he'd witnessed any form of sincerity on the redhead's face or felt anything short of humiliation in his touch. Had he really seen to the wicked game of Akio's own manipulations? Or had he fallen completely to the dark side and could just feign whatever emotion he wanted, now, without remorse.

Saionji choose to believe in the boy who bandaged his hand once upon a time. "I will do this for you, Touga. But I will not be your whore. Swear to me that this is the end."

Touga's smile came easily, genuine as opposed to smug. "You will not be my whore, Saoinji. You will be my Rose Bride."

_And never ending..._


End file.
